An electric apparatus mounted on an automobile or the like forms an electric circuit by connecting such an electric apparatus with another electric apparatus or a power source device through a wire harness which is formed by binding insulated wires. In this case, the wire harness is connected with the electric apparatus or the power source device by connecting connectors which are mounted on these components.
With respect to these connectors, a crimp terminal which is connected to the insulated wire by pressure-bonding is incorporated in the inside of the connector. A female connector and a male connector which are connected in the concave and convex relationship are configured to be engaged with each other by fitting engagement.
Such connectors are used under various environments and hence, there may be a case where unintended moisture adheres to a surface of the insulated wire due to condensation brought about by a change in ambient temperature or the like. There is a drawback that, when moisture intrudes into the inside of the connector along the surface of the insulated wire, a surface of a wire conductor exposed from a distal end of the insulated wire corrodes.
In view of the drawback, there have been proposed various techniques for preventing the intrusion of moisture into a wire conductor pressure-bonded using a crimp terminal.
For example, a conductive member disclosed in Patent Document 1 is also one of such crimp terminals. The “conductive member” disclosed in Patent Document 1 is formed of a fastening portion which is a base member on which a connecting surface to be connected to other member is formed, and a wire connection portion which projects toward the fastening portion and to which a tip end portion of a wire is connected.
The wire connection portion has an insertion hole into which the tip end portion of the wire can be inserted, and is formed into a cylindrical shape having an opening on a distal end side thereof in the projecting direction. The wire is connected to the “conductive member” disclosed in Patent Document 1 such that a conductor tip which is formed by peeling off an insulating cover on a tip portion side of the wire is inserted into the insertion hole of the wire connection portion, and the wire connection portion is fastened by caulking in such a state thus connecting the wire to the conductive member by pressure-bonding.
However, the wire connection portion of the “conductive member” disclosed in Patent Document 1 is of a so-called closed barrel type and has a cylindrical shape. The closed-barrel-type wire connection portion has higher rigidity than a so-called open-barrel-type wire connection portion where a portion of the open-barrel-type wire connection portion in the circumferential direction is opened, and there also exists a possibility that, the wire connection portion is hardened by working in forming the wire connection portion.
Accordingly, when the wire connection portion in a state where the conductor tip is inserted into the wire connection portion is fastened (pressure-bonded) by caulking using a jig such as a pressure-bonding blade die (crimper) or the like, ductility is lowered by work hardening thus giving rise to a state where a portion of the wire connection portion in the circumferential direction is plastically deformed with a larger amount of bending deformation or with a larger amount of displacement compared to other portions of the wire connection portion. There arises a possibility that cracks are generated on the wire connection portion or the whole wire connection portion cannot be compressed uniformly along with such plastic deformation. Accordingly, there exists a possibility that the water-blocking performance cannot be ensured against the intrusion of moisture into the inside of the wire connection portion or conductivity between the conductor tip and the wire connection portion cannot be ensured in a stable manner.